Welcome to Gaia! ::

Name: Leonardo Rossi
Team: Alphas
Location: Debriefing Room
No More

As Leo did a headcount of those that had come back, he could feel the fatigue start to set in. The adrenaline was wearing off, and his legs were starting to feel intensely sore. He became more aware of his slowing breathing, and the sweat that was beading at his hairline. It took some time for his brain to switch from combat to peace – it was really less of a switch and more of a gradient as his senses dulled and the relief settled in.

He could hear Bella's amplified voice, strained as it was, announce that everyone had been accounted for. Leo let a huge breath escape as he heard that and leaned against a supply crate. All the names were starting to run together in his head anyways. A part of him wanted to go help those that had been wounded, to keep working, but another told him that on the downhill of an adrenaline rush, he might be prone to mistakes, and that wouldn't help anyone. Aurelie and Gabriel were the first that came to mind, mostly Gabriel. Aurelie had a superficial cut on her head and maybe some bruises – their gun-wielding man had been shot. If they couldn't find a good way to get the bullet out (Shadowcat came to mind), he would be setting off metal detectors for the rest of his life.

The animal mimic put his hands on his hips as he looked around, taking slow, deep breaths. This shouldn't have happened. Not that he was blaming himself, which to not do so was out of character. He was good, and in some way he might have been able to see it coming, but he had put his faith in the information that he had been given by the X-Men. For all the talking up everyone had done of Xavier's men, Leo had taken their word for it. The X-Men were all-mighty – they were righteous – they knew what they were doing.

Then why did they mess up so often?

He didn't want to be that guy, but Rossi could only remember maybe a handful of times where things had gone that wrong while he was on SHIELD. There were a multitude of problems: lack of training, bloated numbers, bad information… all combined to create a perfect storm. It was only a matter of time before it came crashing down on them, and the X-Men would have to make dozens of calls to inform some very unsuspecting parents why their teenage son or daughter had been killed. To be honest, Rossi had thought that time had been upon them only minutes ago. Completely trapped, with Scourge and highly trained SHIELD agents knocking on their door? Rossi and Katerina would have been killed immediately – they would have been able to withstand interrogation the longest. The others would have been taken and tortured before being summarily killed and buried in some ditch in the middle of the woods where no one gave a damn.

They were lucky, but Lady Luck wasn't always going to come to their rescue.

He scanned the room for Scott, and as he saw him, he could see the Headmaster and Bella trailing off, presumably to have a meeting about what had happened. Rossi wanted to follow and almost barge in, demand why they had been taken by surprise. But he knew it wasn't the time. Scott was probably just as wound up as him. Later, Leo would want to talk to him. Maybe they should do things differently… or maybe Leo should get out before he had to carry his friends to the morgue instead of the infirmary.

Doing another pan of the room, he spotted Tara, whom had been showing signs of fatigue since she had impressively brought down the prison wall. Stepping over to her, he put a reassuring hand on her back. "You okay?" he asked. There was an understood bond the two had, going back to their first adventure in the wretched Halloweentown. The mall, prom… he knew he could count on her.

Suddenly, his ears perked up instinctively. Something fell off of a shelf in the direction of the way that Bella and Scott had disappeared to. That was when he noticed that the room was vibrating ever so slightly.

Then he heard it. Hoarse, almost as if grasping for life, he heard his name. As garbled as the sonic transmission was, he knew whose voice it had to be. It was Bella. And she was in trouble. Without much thought, he broke out into a full speed down the hallway, blowing past several people. His spider agility was cued up, which helped him shoot down the hallway so fast that he was barely keeping up with himself. Adrenaline was searing through his system now, and a tunnel was forming in his vision. Bouncing off of a corner, he smashed the door to the debriefing room to see…

Himself. Strangling Bella.

He was lunging at the attacker when it clicked. Katerina Force. She had finally done it – done the very thing that Rossi had been warning everyone about since the woman had decided to grace them with her presence.

Not much else went through Rossi's head as his right arm clapped around his other self's neck, his left coming up for support. Switching to ant strength, he locked in, hardly moving a muscle as his doppelganger finally let go of the songstress and reached behind, trying in vain to claw at him. With the break in concentration, the woman reverted back to her more feeble form, her original form, which made it all the more easier for Rossi to continue. He felt her claw at him, but he had buried his head so that he couldn't be harmed too much that way. Also, he was still wearing all of his gear. There wasn't much she could do.

Kat managed to throw her weight back which managed to get Rossi off of his feet and onto his back, but his arms remained unchanged. Again, this just made things easier for the animal mimic. He could feel her try to change into something that he wouldn't be able to keep a grip on, but she couldn't get past the arms around her neck. Not to mention the fact that the lack of blood going to her brain kept her from controlling her powers, much less focus on anything to turn into. Rossi could feel the movements become weaker, the gasps for air come more ragged and far in-between. It was a classic sleeper hold, but he wasn't going to let go right after the woman would lose consciousness.

He was going to kill Katerina Force.

The thought crossed his mind to merely grab the bottom of her chin and the back of her head and spin as hard as he could, thereby snapping her neck. That would require him to momentarily lessen his grip though, and a part of him just wanted to keep holding on. The threat of Katerina suddenly lashing out if he let up for a moment wasn't as much of a concern – it was that a part of him, the dark part, the dominant part at the moment, wanted to feel the life slowly ebb out of the woman he had hated for so long, had chased across half the globe for, only to have her land at his doorstep and he not being able to do anything about it. That was the worst part for him – he would be fine if they were still enemies, coming across each other on missions and battling out as they had. But the X-Men had wanted, nay, demanded that he get along with her, work with her. With a terrorist. The X-Men were too forgiving.

The argument could be made that Leo was just like her, just on the other side. He would almost have to laugh at that – would they tell that to an American soldier? That they were just like the Taliban, or al Qaeda, or ISIL? No, he and Kat were very different. As much as Kat wanted to say it to make herself feel better or sleep at night or whatever, Leo wasn't as much of a monster as she was. He may be a monster to some people… but he at least he was on the right side.

He could feel her start to slip away. As horrible as the thought was, Rossi could almost start to feel relief. The multitude of scars he had amassed during his fights with her over the years could start to heal. No more snarky comments at literally everything he said. No more questioning his judgment for the sake of questioning his judgment. No more having to work with someone who worked for the worst terrorist organization the world had seen, someone whom hadn't changed at all.

No more. No more.

This is a fight to the d e a t h,xxxxxxxx
Our holy war,xx
A new romance,xxxxxxxxxxx
A trojan whorexxxxx

We will, we will, we will rise again
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This is a f i g h t for the day,xxxxx
Night,xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Black and whitexxxxxxxx
A victory dance,xxxxxx
A burning riotxxxxxxxxxxxx

We will, we will, we will r i s e again



The last thing that Alice was right now was a happy camper. Her ribs hurt, she was getting snarky comments left and right, and everyone wanted to tell her what to do today. She grit her teeth and followed orders after a bit of arguing. As she did, she stepped through the portal and was whisked away from the battle that seemed to carry on forever. She knew that she was out of the fight, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to be.

Finally, seated in the infirmary, she threw her shirt off after a bit of clenched teeth before she looked to Charlotte and Roland. It seemed the pair would keep her company for now until Blake decided to join them. After allowing Roland to look at her ribs, she sat up the best she could, lifting her arms above her head and resting them atop her skull. She felt bandages compress over the aching, and broken, bones before a cold pack was pressed on. She jolted at the cool feeling before relaxing as the numbing relief swept over her burning ribs.

She adjusted on the cot before laying back, reclining but not relaxing. “It better be a grape one, Cowboy.” She tried to grin at him, hoping to get something out of the deal, if a sucker was all she could manage, then at least it was something that Blake would comply with. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the cold pack giving some relief for her ribs. “You know, you might be snarky with Adonis over here, but I don’t care how short or long I have to keep this cold pack on, it’s doing wonders already. Even if Elixir shows in the next five seconds, it's better than sitting here, gritting my teeth in pain and trying to fight the urge not to set all three of you on fire.” Well, that was one way to thank Roland for wrapping her up.

Her eyes opened when she heard a knock, hoping that it was Elixir at the door, but when someone that Blake clearly didn’t recognize entered the room, her eyes narrowed into slits. Blake went through introductions, pointing out the three of them, including himself, to Darrien. “Hey, pretty boy. As much as I love being the center of attention, this ain’t a free show.” She looked to the others for help trying to get this guy out of the room. “Hate to get a little twitchy. I may be hurt but I can still snap my fingers and blow the room up.” Pain was not helping her usual sour attitude towards everything.

The door opened again and Alice almost screamed at the top of her lungs for everyone to just ******** off and leave her alone. But, the one who entered seemed to glitter like he took a bath in pure gold. She looked to Blake, whose expression alone confirmed her thoughts. She relaxed again, watching the man as he moved into the room, working around the gathering crowd. “Yeah, sure, just say I got thrown around like nothing. Leave out that I kicked that thing’s a**.” She pouted at Blake, wanting to cross her arms but incapable of doing so.

“Okay, the star of the show is here. Blake, I want that sucker. Take the others… and Fabio over there, with you. This won’t take long and I ain’t gonna make the Golden Boy work under pressure. I won’t die while you’re gone.” She waved for them to all clear out of the room, not letting Elixir even close to her until they were gone. Once the door shut and they were alone, she relaxed as the bed was reclined back till she was flat and the wrappings on her body were undone.

“It really wasn’t the Sentinel that did it. It was the column that stopped me from flying through the air like a test dummy.” She sighed as she thought about the fight. She shouldn’t have been so reckless, but who was she kidding? Reckless was practically her middle name. It was good seeing Blake again, though, even though she probably added another wrinkle to his forehead from worry. She tried to focus on something else, like watching Elixir set to work on healing her broken bones. Her eyes went from where the contusions were on her ribs to the ceiling. She tried to keep from fidgeting around as she felt the bones starting to mend.

As soon as it was over, she sat up, her body still sore, but nothing compared to how it was. “Thanks.” She muttered before she hopped off the cot. “Love the ambiance of this place, but I think a proper room should be more suited.” She grabbed her shirt, pulling it on over her head and adjusted her gloves. As she brushed her hair onto the one side of her head, she grabbed the discarded cold pack. “I’m taking this,” was all she said before she pulled the door open and left the infirmary. If Elixir was gonna try to argue with her and tell her to stay, she wasn’t going to listen.



This is a fight for love, lust, hate, desire
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We are the children of the great empire

And here they were, trapped like rats in a super high-tech net. How they had managed to walk into such a (now) obvious trap, she had no idea. Either their intel had been wrong, or worse, someone was playing them like a master harpist. Neither of the options sat well with her.

Leo, ever the natural born leader, stepped forward and started issuing orders to their group, his priority getting them somewhere where they could mount a defense if needed. It was as solid a plan as any that she could think of, and she respected him, so there were certainly no questions or hesitations on her end. For the most part, it seemed that everyone else felt the same way, falling into line like obedient little ducklings. The thought came to her, and she was sure it can come to their leader as well, that she could try to tunnel out of the barrier. Even if she'd had the stamina for it, though, the reality was that they had no idea what the technology behind the barrier was. It could extend indefinitely, for all they knew, and the last thing they needed was for someone to be miles underground when her control gave out and the earth came crashing down on them. Had no one watched The Great Escape?

To say that she was relieved by the sound of the great blue beast come through their communicators, would be a vast understatement. Her eyes found Leo through the chaos, seeing the relief in his features as he asked for extraction. Now that the barrier was down - and she would be interested in hearing that story from Dimitri later - there was hope that they might just make it out of this alive.

Their evacuation was as sudden as she thought it might be, a portal popping out of nowhere to transport the rest of their group to safety. Of course, she was not going to argue with their efficiency. At this point, all she wanted to do was get the hell out of here and back to their little underground base, the pressing sense of earth around them now a comforting hug as opposed to overwhelming her senses. Leo called for them all to move, not wasting a moment, and the brunette didn't have to be told twice.

Once they were back at the base, she breathed a sigh of relief, her back finding the closest wall and leaning against it. Her head tilted backwards until it too rested against the familiar feeling of dirt pressing in from the other side, appreciating the comfort of it. Leo asked if they all made it, Tara glancing around the room to see if anyone jumped out to her as missing. Really, she would have no way of knowing, but it looked at first glance like everyone was accounted for, which was a good thing. She nodded to the man anyways. He was going to need a long break after this one, he had certainly proved himself.

Julian said what she had certainly been thinking - this mission had been a ******** mess. "Amen," she muttered from her spot against the wall, still reveling in the comfort of the familiar press from outside.

The Alpha leader's voice addressed them all, assuring them that everyone was accounted for, and that the injured should make their way to the Infirmary to have their various wounds addressed. They wouldn't be going out on any other rescue missions with things the way they were, and she was glad to see that they were being sensible about things. They received a bit of praise for their work, despite the ambush they had found themselves in, but the brunette found it hard to revel in any sort of glory. They'd had their asses handed to them, and were lucky to get out alive, but sure, they could put a tick in the win column for this one, if it made them feel better. Bella left then, following the senior X-Men out of the room for what she could only assume was going to be one hell of a debriefing.

Gabriel, the poor injured baby, set off towards the Infirmary as he had been ordered, dribbling blood along the floor as he went. "Someone should really go with him," she said simply, still refusing to move from her spot on the wall. It took a lot to spook the geokinetic - she as always ready and raring for a fight - but being trapped like that - falling into a trap like that - spooked her.

They were reliant on the information they were given for a mission and somewhere along the way, somehow, they had been ********. The worse realization was that they had no idea who had made the mistake, if it even was a mistake. Perhaps their enemies really were just getting that good. Maybe they were just that powerful. That thought frightened her too, though she was not going to show it to the general populace of the base. No, for now, she would just stay leaning against this wall, continue feeling the press of the earth all around her, and remind herself that they had made it out alive. They were home.

Leo approached her, a reassuring hand finding its way onto her back as he asked if she was alright. She opened her eyes then, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips as she looked at him, giving a soft nod. "Yea, I'm fine," she said quietly. They really had been through the ringer together several times, and whatever rapport they had built was absolute. He would be the first one to understand her anxiety despite being back home; would understand her hesitation to break her bond with the wall in case they found themselves the victims of some other horrendous trap. She needed to know that they were, indeed, safe, and this feeling of the earth she'd grown to know gave her that. Before they had a chance to say much else, however, a garbled voice spoke their interim leader's name, and he took off running down the hallway.

Instinctively, she called out after him, but there was no stopping him from trying to get to her. His powers activated at some point, because in a flash, he was gone. She may have followed, if she had the energy, but the reality was, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She never liked those people that injected themselves into situations that had nothing to do with them, and made it their problem.

Curiosity wasn't going to kill this cat.

I would have to double check in the dictionary." he told Aurelie. For working together for the first time "last I checked though they fell under omega" He fired back in a deadpan tone, when eyes hidden by his pitch black shades targeted her man; followed by a tiny grin of mischief formed on his facial design when he looked back towards the flaxen haired alpha. The ambient manipulator constantly took shots at their team with other omegas present just because. Why not fire back in harmless humor?

Edilon went back on the next stage of his plan, while Dimitri felt that his view was brushed aside. Was it because he was right? His leader called for minimum casualties, and with the amount of people operating the vessel and their experience, D stood by his viewpoint. Plus, getting out of here alive was the top priority. Alas, only for zero rebuttal on his points and as Dimitri was about to speak, the jumper was already gone. Through the nostrils he gave a light exhale that nearly expressed his thoughts on the matter moments before it was go time.

Dimitri' molten eyes were locked on the device that was nearly covered in layers lava at this point. But there wasn't anything firing back from the machine that implied that it was damaged. "Come on, Come onnn..." luckily didn't expect it to be easy otherwise his hopes would have been smashed like the bones of those facing the Siren's wrath. Crushing it was the second method as his hands began to retract, followed by his fingers; almost as if forming a snowball. He had hoped that through the gunfire, screams, the altitude, and the audio-based attacks that Siren could have filtered through it and received his warning. But it was no good, he didn't hear anything back on his end.

The situation they were was going to go up a notch when the big dogs came out to play and a few more notches if Dimitri couldn't get the barrier down. His full attention reverted back to the afloat machine, just as the molten peripheral views catching glimpses of Julian here and there. The playboy was given even more backup while he would finish his part of the job. They were counting on him; each bullet avoided, movement or attack through their mutation would continue to build up as long as they were on this ship, and disappointing them wasn't part of the plan. Dimitri packed on more layers of molten rock, one after another as his hands and fingers were performing breaking and crushing gestures. His crimson teeth were visible , pressing firmly against each other as he could feel exertion build up in his body.

Then he felt a slight push on one of the sides of the engulfed shield machine. .

Quickly his eyes glanced up for a second to see if it had made a difference. If it was, it was much too miniscule for Dimitri to notice. But that was going to change in moments, for he had finally made a weak point! The pressure by the weak zone began to increase and slowly but surely he could feel its mass morph, the pigmentation of the barrier fluctuating back and forth. And then when the drowned device was beyond irreparable, there was a sound that came from the machine similar to the sound of technology that size shutting down, and the prison they were in, was gone.

Dimitri had done it...he had killed the barrier

Exhaustion was in his voice heavily when he dialed in to the entire Alpha channel to give the new quick update whether they noticed it or not.

"Barrier's down.... you're welcome..."


It was time to bail from this party while they had their opening. Leo must have received word and called for manifold back home because a portal identical to the one they used to get here appeared right below. A thought came to Dimitri that involved sending his molten sphere into one of the engines; enough to where it could most likely stay afloat for a while, but the soldier's attention would be pulled elsewhere. But he stuck to the plan, hoping that it doesn't come back to bite him on his backside in the future

"Right behind you!" he shouted to Julian. He would have took his offer to be teleported out of here but stayed on his 2nd form to be safe and didn't want to harm him. The distance from the portal to Dimitri shrunk as he dug deep, one last time to fly towards the portal and switch back to his base form right as the setting changed back to the debriefing room underground. He came in rough, stumbling a few steps when his feet had touched the ground, stopping to a halt by one of the chairs and bent over with his hands on his knees and his core visibly rising and falling. " ********...."

He took off his x- shades and slid them on the table, revealing his wet face before it showed even more from the sweat beads falling on the floor one by one. With his elbows on his knees slouched over, away from the table he continued to slowly regain what he had lost he heard Julian give a pretty accurate description on what had just happened. " Eh.....I give us a B...." They infiltrated the prison, successfully removed the mutation collars after and during taking out the security that stood in their way, after having ring rust. All while having a green on the squad. Did they have trouble? Hell yes. Did they fail? Hell no.

"Told you we should have just crashed it..."

His head slowly bobbed up when he saw a glimpse of summers enter the room, nearly looking as terrible, if not more than the alphas. What had gone down on the Senior X-men's side to where Cyclops was gasping for the same air in the same fashion Dimitri and the rest of them were? Many more questions would arise as the situation began to cool down, but the playboy focused on the now for the time being. He also switched attention to Bella ,who had expressed her thoughts on their performance as well. Julian indeed came in the clutch with his teleportation along with assisting playboy with backup. Thank you Julian."

As for Dimitri's performance, it was noticed through the Alpha team but gave little to zero praise for himself. he looked up towards her, returned the smile with one still of fatigue and towards her fine jewels that took the form of her eyes. "Couldn't have done it without you Siren...." he took another portion of oxygen and exhaled

"It's like you said..... they were trapped with us right?"

Isabella was right however. Who knows how the outcome would have turned out. What if Julian had reached just an extra inch or so above the limits of his mutation. What if Dimitri needed an extra 10 seconds? What would have happened to the group then, Seeing as how they were all alive with new and old faces, The playboy didn't bother asking for such questions, but tried to spark some laughter like he always did.

"It could have been very worse....We may have had to call in the omegas." He predicted, followed by another chuckle. That was what they needed right? Reach that far only to hear Narcissa somehow take the glory though Isabella's leadership? It would be a long, long time before the omegas would let that one go probably.

Dimitri brushed his forehead with the back of his hand and wiped it against his outer thigh, turning his frame towards the table as his leader gave them an update on the squad. The unit lead by Jean was in a similar situation, which explained the question broadly, that Dimitri had about Scott. Even if he wasn't part of Jean's squad, they were still x-men. At the latter of her speech, he have his two cents. From his view his entire team should have known.

"Back on the airship....there were two people that stood out before we arrived here." Dimitri revealed. He wasn't sure if the senior group knew him or not, but it was better than keeping it in. "One was some guy in all white with a cowboy hat... face looked like aged.. like the Crypt Keeper.

As if anyone would remember that series.

"The second, looked brunette, but was in all black. symbols here and there, slim waist, nice bust, juicy apple a**. She looked like she owned the ship you know?" He finished with a shrug. The seniors, Leo and Bella would have known personally, but not the rest who wasn't up there.

Further debriefing had moved just between Scott and Bella leaving the alpha team dismissed, but not before one more rescue. Had Tara not say anything, Dimitri would have laid his head down in darkness for a bit. He grabbed his glasses, folded them up in his pouch and raised up to check on Siege. He could have fired back with a smart but light hearted comment often seen in their exchanges of dialogue but laid up off of her. She too had likely performed a feat that had danced on the line of her limits.

"I'll get him."

He had made some progress, evidence showing in the blood trails, but the weapons platform fell short close to the finish line on all fours. "You know they have hygiene products for this amount of blood right?"Otengam gave out a gloved hand for him to assist him back on his working leg. Should Siege take it, he carefully pulled him back up and swung his arm over his own shoulders to keep him up as he helped him to the medical bay. "You'd think with that technology and funding they could have had one first aid kit in the back seat of the car you took right?" While he waited and was assisting he saw a glimpse of Leo speeding down the hallway in the direction he had just came from. What was the rush? Did it involve critical information about SHEILD? Seeing as how at one point he was affiliated with them? It made sense and looked urgent, but Dimitri refocused his attention back on Siege, unbeknownst of what was taking place rooms away...

Before Maddy knew what was happening, she was off the ground and being squeezed slightly too tight. She squeezed back, forgetting her flat-faced, snarky routine, and laughing at Jacen’s over-exuberance. The boy set her down, lightly, as if he were afraid he had broken her. For half a second, she forgot that she should probably let him out of the hug, too. Maddy was all but oblivious to the fact that Aren was still standing several feet away from them.

“Yeah, I’ve kinda been all over the place,” she started. “Buy me a couple drinks and I’ll have to tell ya all about it. I may or may not have died once or twice.” She put her free hand lightly on one of his, which was resting gently on her shoulders.

Of course, the boy just had to ruin the moment. Maddy breathed out slightly, as Jacen mentioned her showing up after all the fighting, sleeping in. She let her hand drop away from his, and looked him straight in the eye. “It’s not my fault nobody here decided to keep me in the loop,” she said, suddenly frustrated. Her grip tightened on her bow.

She glanced over at Aren, finally taking note of him. “All that talk about always being welcome back, but then you up and move without sending a girl a ******** postcard or something.” She knew, honestly, that she did tend to disappear quite often, for school, or family, or from just being tired of the X-Men, but she always ended up here again, eventually. By now, they should know that.

Maddy turned back to Jacen. “But no, I had to accidentally catch a ride with a pair of Alphas, since, turns out, the same place I was trying to break into they had already gotten captured in,” she explained.

Still, she knew it wasn’t fair to take it all out on either of them. She really ought to save that for when she inevitably had to see Emma, or for when Narcissa chose to not totally ignore her presence. She sighed, rubbing her eyes, again feeling a wave of exhaustion.

“Look, I—" Maddy started, but halted abruptly at the feeling of shaking beneath her bare feet. Jacen said something her mind didn’t quite register before the weapons cabinets around them started to shake. Maddy caught Jacen’s eye for half a moment, hoping he would have some clue as to what was going on, but all she was met with was the same look of confusion and worry.

Without an answer, Jacen was running out of the armory, and Maddy found herself following her, running down the hall without a thought. She saw him turn into the war room, which she had left not long ago. It had been half filled with Alphas and some senior X-Men-- she couldn’t imagine what could even be happening.

The girl almost fell over trying to turn the corner so quickly. Sliding into the turn, Maddy caught a glimpse of Jacen leaping over the table towards a pair of Alpha’s wrestling on the floor. She recognized, Leo straight away, but didn’t spend time trying to remember the girl. Jacen was throwing himself into the fight, trying to separate them, as Maddy quickly scanned the room. With any luck, the two trying to murder each other wouldn’t even notice she was there. Half the people who had been in the war room when she had arrived earlier seemed to be gone. What had happened, she couldn’t say, but some of her questions got answered when she spotted Isabella sprawled out on the floor, black hair covering her face.

Maddy sprinted over to her, dropping the bow in her hand on the ground, kneeling, and pulling back the Alpha’s hair out of her face. Isabella’s eyes were shut, and, at first, Maddy couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. As she went to check for a pulse, Maddy saw all the swelling and bruising on her neck. It seemed the one of the two fighting on the floor weren’t content with trying to choke just one person to death, but had to continue the rampage.

Rolling Isabella onto her back, Maddy slid behind her, cursing as she lifted the girl up into a seated position. She was heavier than she looked. Or maybe Maddy just didn't have anything left in her. Maddy shifted quickly, trying to keep Isabella’s head upright and steady, with a hand on the other’s forehead. If Isabella had broken anything in her throat, it wouldn’t help to have her suffocate now. Briefly, Maddy considered trying to carry the other out of the room, but quickly decided against trying it, on her own, at least. She would need some help towing the Isabella out of there, and down to the infirmary, if anybody else wasn't trying to add on to the brawl that was happening on the other side of the room.

★ At this Location: Prison, then back at base
★ Thinking About: I can only imagine the "bouncer" jokes I'll get...
★ While on Team: Alpha


Julian eventually transported them slowly in pairs to the bunker within the base, and while they were certainly surrounded by the bad guys, they were in a relatively safer place than where they were before. They could at least mount a defense, and seeing how she was one of the more uninjured members of the team, she took it upon herself to at least look like she was a manageable bodyguard.

Thankfully, a need to rise to the occasion didn’t pop up before Leo spoke up and addressed the team, giving them a quick run-down of what they needed to do next. The injured had their own little medical corner to be tended to (by none other than Thomas), and while everyone else was given generic defensive positions to take, Lyn and Raine were personally assigned to guard the door. Lyn clasped her hands together at the sound of her name, straightening up at this newfound responsibility. Raine took charge easily, corralling her towards their destination. She couldn’t say she wanted to be a bouncer before, but there was always a first time for everything. “Roger dodger!” she replied back to Raine, undeniable enthusiasm dripping from her voice as she strode over. A little cheer was just what the place needed, give or take the massively bleak situation they were in.

Raine had additional instructions to fry the control panel so there’d be a harder time getting the door open, Lyn giving silent cheer to Raine as she set to work. She made a silent “Ooo” at the sparks the flew, before offering three quick claps at Raine’s handiwork. But, that didn’t seem to be enough for the shocking brunette, who requested Lyn to stand back for some added defenses: a nasty shock for those who touched the door. “Gotcha! Get em!” She said, taking a few steps back before offering her two thumbs up and a smile.

Crossing her arms across her chest, Lyn turned back and looked over the Alphas that were around. She noted that the group seemed to be a little smaller, and their leader wasn’t among them anymore. They must’ve gone off while Lyn and Raine took up their positions. She just wanted to go home at this point: things went sour, and they were in a spot they really shouldn’t have been in, if everything was going to plan. She barely had the resolve to force a cheerful look on her face, knowing that as the team’s sunny disposition, she needed to at least bring some light to their lives, on and off the field. She just didn’t know if there was a reason to keep smiling. Well, we’re still alive. That shouldn’t be the silver lining, but I’m running out of reasons here. She thought to herself, not noticing that she didn’t see Alexandra and Luke among them yet.

The screens in the room shone on, and the pyromancer let out a few sparks of fire from her body in surprise, looking around at the sudden activity. There was a figure on them, masked and topped with a hat, looking ominously at them all. Lyn was a sucker for horror images, but if the situation wasn’t dire, she might have asked why there was a failed horror movie villain on the screen. His threats were about as cliched as one, but she knew that on a mission, threats could become reality if they didn’t do things right. Eventually, after his huffing and puffing, the screen went blank save for that SHIELD logo and some offscreen sounds, before even the audio cut out. There was a palpable silence in the room, before some conversation started up again. Lyn was among the voices.

“Wow! O.K., I know that this is a tense situation, but did you see what he was wearing? A fedora? Creep alert!” She said a raised voice, tone incredulous at what they just witnessed. She told herself she was going to be more serious, and likely the warnings he gave were supposed to be dire news to them all, but Lyn had to take a few shots when she could.

There wasn’t much to reflect on, as Leo spoke up again and began aggressively talking with someone, before a relief-flooding portal opened up in the room. Leo could have asked them all to do backflips into the portal along with tie evacuation orders, and Lyn would have done them clumsily happily at that point. “Let’s get out of here!” She said, hurrying into the portal and feeling that odd sensation of suddenly being in another place so quickly.

She tripped and fell over as she crossed over to the other side, already being aware of the much more open area around them and savoring that it wasn’t in the middle of enemy territory. “Hooooome!” She yelled aloud, sitting up on her knees and throwing her arms heavenward. While she normally didn’t like the metal underground of their base, it was a much better alternative than where they were just at. Lyn clasped her hands over her mouth, closing her eyes as she relished it all, as her teammates materialized around her and eventually the portal closed.

Julian chimed in about their successes in the necessary tone, and Lyn was almost negative enough herself to add in some more commentary, but felt it best to leave at that. Bella spoke up and gave them all a quick debrief with her aided voice, congratulating them on their work and to go rest up. Lyn knew exactly what that meant for her specially: time to go for a dip in the pool and swim away the troubles.

She looked around and quickly sought out Raine, grabbing ahold of the electromancer’s arm. “Raine, we were the best bouncers ever! No creep got into Club Alpha with us on the job, and you had a killer buzzer set up too!” She said excitedly to the other woman, shaking it a two-handed handshake. “Let’s celebrate: come relax at the pool with me and get some nice drinks! I need time to soak in the water after that performance, and you deserve something nice after that lightshow of yours!”

{{{I apologize heavily for this post for several reasons. One of them is that for the amount of time that that had passed since my last post (another reason), I might have cut down on some content in order to get this post out without having to pull my hair out. Please let me know if there are any issues with this post, as I will gladly fix them.}}}

She asked for clarification on #thuglife, but Dimitri was quick to joke back, claiming the correct definition involved the Omegas. Giggling at his smooth segue to poke fun at her boyfriend, she wrapped an arm in his to bring him along. “That sounds about right. What would my parents think?” She asked dramatically, already knowing the answer.

Their jokes ended shortly after, and the entire scene became one s**t show after another - from the prisoners turning on them, to her being hit in the head, to Wukong losing his mind… She’d been mentally exhausted by the time she threw up her shields for the team’s defense. Raine offered to allow her a break but she declined. “I might need it if we don’t get through soon though.” She admitted quietly to the firespark.

Aurelie barely registered Julian’s hand on her shoulder when he teleported her to the rest of the group. Sagging in relief as she released her telekinetic shield, the ballerina took a deep, freeing breath as the mental strain evaporated. She could have gone longer, but after that much gun fire, letting go felt nice. Katerina greeted her with a question, and Aurelie’s lips lifted of their own accord at her concern. “I’m fine.” She insisted quietly, her features shining with enough sincerity that Kat’s temper would cool. “I feel like I need a shower, but otherwise I’ll live.” Glancing down at her uniform, it wasn’t hard to see why. Where the cement had fallen had riddled her with unwelcome dust and grime.

Kat wrapped her arms around her in a hug, and Aurelie returned the embrace, mollified to see her best friend was alright. Explaining she had chosen to come to safety last for the good of her teammates, her best friend’s features contorted with a protective fire that few might have ever witnessed. She laughed off the remark that she should have left the other Alpha’s to die as a joke and shook her head. “It’s alright. Part of being on the team is having each other’s backs.” With as versatile as her abilities were, the chances that she would be last to safety were always high. “Besides, I wouldn’t have felt right leaving everyone else defenseless.”

Thomas requested help with Gabriel, but her bestie’s attention stayed on her as she was quick to notice the blood stains caking her hairline. Shaking it off, she did her best to minimize any worry the blood might have inspired. Repressing a sigh, she couldn’t help but feel like she had failed once again - especially when the second in command caught sight of the gash. Of course Leo would notice she was hurt too. “Really, I’m fine.” She repeated for his benefit.

She turned her sights to a kneeling Thomas and shook her head when he asked if she thought she could remove the bullet. Well, she could… just not safely. Gabriel insisted he’d better if they just packed the wound, and Aurelie nodded. Hopefully they’d get home in time to see the bullet removed.

Ever the gentleman, Thomas tried to hand her a syringe that would heal her own injuries, and her roommate intervened once again, stating that the telekinetic would not be taking it unless no other choice became apparent. Lifting her hand to stave off any arguments from the man, she shook her head. “We’re not out of this yet. Someone else might need this more than I do.” She reasoned, trying to appease both of her friends before either of them started a war against the other.

“That I don’t doubt.” She observed with an inkling of respect as she settled into a chair so that Kat could see what needed patched up. There was no winning the argument that she was fine with her so long as there was a gash on her head, so she didn’t even bother to protest treatment. “In my previous line of work, the most I had to deal with was blistered and bleeding toes and sprains. If you need an ankle wrapped in the future, I’m your girl.”

She sat through the assurances that it wasn’t that bad, and grinned despite the stinging from the antiseptic. “I could have told you that. Head wounds tend to bleed, but I was in no danger of keeling over.” Getting the blood stains out of her hair however… That she certainly wasn’t looking forward to.

The screens glared at them as she finished with the final bandage, and Aurie stared, unsure of what to make of the warning being broadcasted. She had been the first to pose the question when the screens audibly snapped off, leaving the imprint of the masked man to fade to black. Leo gave a name sounding as if giving that much was acid on his tongue. It was enough to color her opinion of the stranger; though she doubted she would really like a guy named ‘Scourge’ anyway.

Kat went further into the explanation, calling the man a mercenary and then continued to smear S.H.I.E.L.D.’s name. Sapphire eyes sparked with the warning that her roomie gave her and responded with a stiff nod. Just as she began to wonder if any of them would get out of this prison alive, their way home opened and they were rushed back into the safe haven the compound offered.

In the madness, she lost Kat, found Dom and waved off nurses that were rushing to check on the team. Everyone’s posture slacked as they processed what they had been through, and Aurie took a seat beside Tara, sliding down the wall until she hit the floor. She suggested someone go with Gabriel to see him to the infirmary, and the telekinetic tiredly put a finger to her nose, signaling a ‘not it.’ “Had he waited, the nurses would have come to him.” She said, still not entirely sure how Gabriel had been shot in the first place. “When I get the energy to get up, I’ll go check to make sure he got there alright.” She promised to no one in particular. But it took very little time for her to start to feel guilty.

Heaving a sigh, she lifted herself up with an invisible hand and groaned. “I won’t feel right if he’s bleeding out on the floor.” And with that, she followed the trail of blood through the compound until she caught up with Gabriel and Dimitri. “Need a hand?” She asked, her feet still not touching the floor so she missed the vibration of the compound. She wasn’t sure if her muscles would work long enough to keep her upright. Being under that much stress had been more taxing than she realized. As the adrenaline dissipated in her system, her body made her keenly aware of how tiring fighting gunfire still was. It’d be a few months yet before she was back to full strength, so she’d pushed her limits a little too far once again.













OOC: Sorry for the wait...please let me know if I have missed something.